1965 Lincoln, need I say more?

[Madkidd007]

And this past week I started on the wiring for the drivetrain, I’ll go through the inside of the car later with all new American autowire stuff. I’ve always wanted when you see under the hood to go so what is custom because it looks like it fits perfect, well other than the sheetmetal intake that I’m going to replace I’ve done just that. Slightly modified painless ls3 harness that I got from work and for the most part laid out well. Long story short I took a factory pass through for all the wiring and made the new fuse block/relay center fit so everything for the drivetrain and car is in one spot inside the car. Still have to run the wires for the fuel pump, fans, key power, and starter but aside from that the wiring is done as I’ve already had the car running with jumper wires. Waiting on the driveshaft to get back which in itself will be a pretty slick setup. It probably took me more time to adjust everything in the tune than the actual wiring as it’s a mix and match of different generation ls parts, the trans tune was simple as it was just a copy and paste from the old Saab. Speaking of the Saab, the suburban I’ll be selling i got on a trade deal that some of you may have seen the new owner doing some work on. Check out this crazy fool if you haven’t already seen what he did to that thing. https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...d.php?t=823156[/URL]

[Madkidd007]

Well fellas this by no means was easy even though it’s a simple idea. The ecm is on the backside and tcm on the front thanks to a spare trailblazer bracket I had laying around. No computers or fuse blocks under the hood for me. And yes it clears the inner fender, but just barely. Oh yea this is the same area I did the past through on the wiring and mounted the fuse block, on the Lincoln’s it’s a bolt in rear splash shield that is countoured to fit so all should be well.

[CG]

Originally Posted by Madkidd007

Alright so as typical with me I did some more jumping around. I had been buying up parts for all of my vehicles including the c10 that is now officially a k20 with trailing arms and a gmc front end. Once I had all the doors and fenders I decided to get those painted, put on the truck and get the suspension wrapped up. It works out better with the 37s for the cummins since it has 4.10 gears. Josh aka gottattooz is going to get me an auto leveling air valve for the rear, once I put that on I’ll be able to have the rear height I want and be able to dump it to get in and out of the garage. It sits dead bits level now and rubs the rubber going in the garage, but I want it higher in the rear as to not be confused with these stupid squatted trucks running around. I most likely won’t do any more paint work till spring so the lincoln is on priority again

Do you have any build threads on your C20 now a K20?

[Madkidd007]

Originally Posted by CG

Do you have any build threads on your C20 now a K20?

No. It’s always been on a whim when I do stuff to it. Like doing studs a month ago. Or doing the suspension one weekend because I had the tires laying around and the old ones were bald on the back. Here are some “build pics” and one random one of my friends toy to make people go WTF

[Madkidd007]

Well I didn’t take any pictures but it wasn’t that cool anyways. Got the last connection to the fuel tank done, made the filler neck from the gto work in the stock location, but still need to route the filler vent hose. Anyways she runs under it’s on power now. Got it up to operating temp but have to do the exhaust, fans, brakes, and nut and bolt everything. But it lives

[Madkidd007]

What do you do when one wheel cylinder is on galactic backorder? You say thank god when you put air to it and it comes apart mostly clean and zero internal rust.

[Madkidd007]

Getting closer and closer. I almost have the tune dialed in but the damn MAF sensor isn’t reading so I have to check the harness. Rear brakes are done, need to do the fronts and hook up the master cylinder. Finally figured out the driveshaft logistics so waiting on it now. Sure feels good to see the wheels getting back on it

[Madkidd007]

Doing all sorts of odds and ends, fixed the ignition switch harness that someone butchered before and bypassed the factory amp gauge which is known to burn these cars to the ground. Today’s task reseal inside and out on the steering gear. I’ll be damned if I’m going to pay redhead prices. And the only way you can get a box for one of these cars is used or get yours rebuilt.

[richard2717]

That picture of the steering box brings back bad but funny (now) memories for me. I was fresh out of high school and had just landed my 1st job at a sign shop. Boss had a LN8000 Ford with a crane mounted on it that had a leaking seal around the shaft. He bought a rebuild kit for it and had me pull the box off the truck. He told me to take it apart and change the seals. The kit he bought was a complete overhaul kit but since I knew nothing about that kind of stuff at the time I just replaced the 2 outer shaft seals and put it all back on the truck. He came back and saw all of the new parts left over and flew hot bc I did not use them all ( the kit was less than $100 back in 88) He made me pull it back apart to put them all in after I told him I had no clue what I was doing. When I pulled one of the inner plates off it was spring loaded and it shot all of the roller bearings all over the floor. There was no drawings for anything and the amount of bearings did not match the amount of holes so I just dropped them back in clockwise until i ran out. Took it out for a test drive and could not get back to the shop fast enough. a 1/4 turn of the steering wheel would almost take it to lock. Ended up costing him about 900 extra for them few extra seals. He listened to me better after that lol

[Madkidd007]

Originally Posted by richard2717

That picture of the steering box brings back bad but funny (now) memories for me. I was fresh out of high school and had just landed my 1st job at a sign shop. Boss had a LN8000 Ford with a crane mounted on it that had a leaking seal around the shaft. He bought a rebuild kit for it and had me pull the box off the truck. He told me to take it apart and change the seals. The kit he bought was a complete overhaul kit but since I knew nothing about that kind of stuff at the time I just replaced the 2 outer shaft seals and put it all back on the truck. He came back and saw all of the new parts left over and flew hot bc I did not use them all ( the kit was less than $100 back in 88) He made me pull it back apart to put them all in after I told him I had no clue what I was doing. When I pulled one of the inner plates off it was spring loaded and it shot all of the roller bearings all over the floor. There was no drawings for anything and the amount of bearings did not match the amount of holes so I just dropped them back in clockwise until i ran out. Took it out for a test drive and could not get back to the shop fast enough. a 1/4 turn of the steering wheel would almost take it to lock. Ended up costing him about 900 extra for them few extra seals. He listened to me better after that lol

Now that’s funny, my balls fell out too. But lucky me I got them back in where they go. Just bled it and ran it for a minute, steers with one finger. Crazy the size and shape of this box.

[Madkidd007]

Well, today was another day of mainly fiddle farting around with loose ends. I got all the brake lines and fuel lines clamped and secured to the body. Went through the original proportioning valve which is more like a limiter to the rear, had to use the c-clamp so I could get the snap ring back in place as it’s spring loaded. Made up a couple of new brake lines to hook up the gmt800 master cylinder, then I was able to put the inner fender back in since it covers fuel and brake lines. I wanted to drive it by the end of the month, doesn’t look like that’ll happen but I’m still happy with how close it is

[Madkidd007]

So not much. Kinda been goofing off as an excuse to stay out of the cold. Have been doing research and communicating with a fellow lincoln fella across the county about the front brakes and hope my plan works out. I did fiddle with the lights yesterday, I have to be able to see after all

[gottattooz]

Those lights look mean as $#!t! Can't wait to see them lit up in person.

-Josh

[Madkidd007]

The irony here is I’m like screw the cold the car can just sit there, then today I got the urge to finalize the fans by routing and joining up the fan wiring. Nothing special as the relays were already done so here is an insignificant couple of pictures. Not my cleanest wire mounting but it’ll do. I did tuck the wires on the fender with the factory wiring

[Madkidd007]

Well this week I will have a drivetrain from harmonic balancer to wheels. If I can get the carrier bearing crossmember made and shift linkage hooked up, then I’ll be able to run it through the gears. Just one front brake job away from being able to move it under its own power.

[Myself]

Woo-Hoo!!

Still watching this.

[kev2809]

light at the end of the tunnel. car is looking great!

[Madkidd007]

Well I sure wish I had proper fab tools, but when you don’t it just means more cutting and welding. Made the carrier bearing crossmember today, it utilizes the factory front leaf spring hanger holes to be sure it’s a solid mount and doesn’t resonate through the floors. Letting the paint dry, so I’ll get it installed Saturday. I sure hope all my measurements were right so I don’t have any clearance issues between the floor and the notch to clear the shaft itself.

[Madkidd007]

All I I am say is this thing about whooped my ass today. The center of the crossmember wasn’t the center of the tunnel so I had to pull it back out and add an inch extension to one side to get the bearing centered. Then when I put it back in I realized I added it to the wrong side. So yea a few hours later finally have a complete drivetrain in the car.

[Madkidd007]

Well after an ear infection leading to a sore throat and that leading to losing my voice, a week and a half later back to work. Got the shifter linkage hooked up today and ran in through the gears. Park, reverse, neutral all line up perfectly. Drive sits a little above the factory drive location but that’s a good thing because the Lincoln only had a detent at neutral and not in drive because of the ass backwards shift pattern. So even though drive sits halfway between drive and neutral on the column, functionality it’s perfect.

[kev2809]

what shifter cable is that? is it universal for the ls motors?

[Madkidd007]

Originally Posted by kev2809

what shifter cable is that? is it universal for the ls motors?

It’s a rod, we sell it at work as a universal linkage for column shifters.

[Madkidd007]

Waiting on wheel hubs so I can adapt my late model gmt calipers and grand Cherokee rotors. I did start playing with odds and ends, getting some stuff tidied up. Today I’m working on the rear brake plumbing so when the front parts get here I can bleed it and drive it to my parents to do the exhaust on a lift instead of on my back. 64-66 mustang rear hose adapted to the factory brake hose bracket which was made to the original Lincoln hose, hate using old style parts but it could have been done with a late model hose just didn’t like the length. My goal is no drivetrain, suspension, or brake components from anything older than 2006. Still have to clamp the line down but it’s plumbed.

[Madkidd007]

Didn’t like the exhaust I previously made fit. So I picked up some manifolds from work while they weren’t on backorder and although I like the driver side, the passenger side made me move some wiring I already had finished up.

[Myself]

That appears to be a pretty snug fit. You'd think there would be all kinds of room after removing a big block, lol!